Grifo makes history as Freiburg thump Genk to overturn deficit and book spot in quarters

[p]After a low-key opening, this tie exploded into life on the 19-minute mark when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/freiburg/fiEQZ7C7/"]Freiburg[/a] hit the front.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/grifo-vincenzo/jBePSV5m/"]Vincenzo Grifo[/a]’s free-kick from the left was met by a pinpoint glancing header by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ginter-matthias/27fpNoQk/"]Matthias Ginter[/a] that went in via the far post, with the centre-back’s third goal in six matches levelling the tie on aggregate. [/b][/p][p]Undeterred, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/genk/r3jWUIiN/"]Genk[/a] ought to have hit back almost immediately when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kayembe-joris/MTvtILKc/"]Joris Kayembe[/a] overlapped down the left and picked out [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bibout-aaron/8ARZ54Hr/"]Aaron Bibout[/a] with a brilliant cross, but [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/atubolu-noah/UwlvfZCm/"]Noah Atubolu[/a] was equal to his shot, preserving the hosts’ lead on the night with a fantastic save.[/p][p]That stop looked even more crucial when Julian Schuster’s men edged ahead on aggregate before the half-hour mark, with Ginter heavily involved once more.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/suzuki-yuito/buidOiX4/"]Yuito Suzuki[/a]’s effort deflected fortuitously into Ginter’s path in the box, and he headed across goal for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/matanovic-igor/j5PxPTVi/"]Igor Matanovic[/a] to bundle home at the far post for his ninth goal of the campaign.[/b][/p][p]Genk looked shellshocked having conceded twice in quick succession, but recovered and soon started to apply pressure of their own.[/p][image alt="Match momentum" id="84bfb651-3053-4f75-812e-78bb624240e2" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="cb02a989-9e81-4798-b5a5-ffb89c6747e1" original-width="1920" original-height="1080" /][p][b]They restored aggregate parity before the break when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/karetsas-konstantinos/EBMZbxBK/"]Konstantinos Karetsas[/a]’ shot hit the post and rebounded across the face of goal and back to the Greek, who squared for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/smets-matte/6Da7LxSN/"]Smets[/a] to fire past Atubolu. [/b][/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tshiend-ken/WSetgIda/"]Ken Nkuba[/a] spurned a big chance for Genk to go back ahead overall before half-time too, firing over from Bibout’s cutback to leave the tie finely poised ahead of the second half.[/p][p]Momentum looked to be with the visitors at the interval, but the pendulum swung Freiburg’s way upon the restart.[/p][p][b]A self-inflicted wound from Genk saw their goalscorer Smets play a wayward pass across his own box that Grifo pounced on to fire home his 106th goal for Freiburg, moving him clear as the club’s outright all-time top scorer.[/b][/p][image alt="Freiburg's Vincenzo Grifo celebrates scoring their third goal" id="70568856-0081-478d-a748-0aae583435e8" credit-line="Reuters / Robin Rudel" guid="64abca1c-c7d4-4be1-9fe2-1b515fce59c3" original-width="1970" original-height="1466" /][p][b]Then, just four minutes later, Suzuki started and finished a blistering counter-attack, slotting into the bottom corner after being played through by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/manzambi-johan/pIqmcnKc/"]Johan Manzambi[/a], handing them what looked like an unassailable two-goal aggregate lead.[/b][/p][p][b]Genk never looked like recovering from that double blow, and their fate was confirmed in the 79th minute when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/eggestein-maximilian/lbelOv8i/"]Maximilian Eggestein[/a] slammed home from the edge of the area.[/b][/p][p]An emphatic attacking display may have come as a surprise to the home support, given that Freiburg had failed to score in three of their prior four matches, but they can now look forward to a quarter-final tie against Celta Vigo.[/p][p]Genk miss out on their first last-eight appearance since 2016/17, with this miserable result stretching their winless run in away games against German opponents to five matches.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/grifo-vincenzo/jBePSV5m/"]Vincenzo Grifo[/a] (Freiburg)[/b][/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="16a844b6-035e-4552-aef6-0d9998467650" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="82061f74-f11b-4a19-9bda-7c613cd65ea1" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/freiburg-fiEQZ7C7/genk-r3jWUIiN/summary/stats/?mid=UyFv5R5F"]Catch up on the stats with Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]